On the eve of Christmas eve, local shares have taken a pause after 4 sessions of gains in which the ASX 200 has risen by 290 points or 5.5%. The index started the session with a loss of 8 points before trading at the lows of the morning as lunchtime loomed. Local participants looked through the generally positive that featured in US and European trade overnight. European shares were firmer in the latest session with the FTSEurofirst 300 index up by 0.4% and the German Dax up by 0.8%. Investors w...

ABC-CBN chose to ignore the social media storm created by the remarks of its news reader Korina Sanchez that Super Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) would hopefully only batter Japan and spare the Philippines. The comment even spawned a hoax report that Japan has declared her a persona non grata.

Like the fake news that Malia Obama is pregnant, Japan did not declare ABS-CBN news reader Korina Sanchez a "persona non grata" for saying on air that super typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) should spare the Philippines and hit Japan instead.

But just a little more than a year in power, Tony Abbott is experiencing what Kevin Rudd was going through the dying days of the Labor Party. In an interview with ABC, Mr Abbott admitted that man voters now feel dismayed, disappointed and surprised with how he runs the party that the shoe is now on the other foot with the Opposition leading by double digits in recent surveys, while the PM's popularity plummeted to a five-month low.